RE-1 Valley Board of Education approve bus driver evaluation tool

Hear about STAR Enterprise progress monitoring tool

STERLING — The RE-1 Valley Board of Education, at their meeting on Monday, approved a bus driver evaluation tool for use in 2012-2013.

Prior to discussing the evaluation tool, Dorcas Brekel presented board president Eric Windom with the Colorado Association of School Boards McGuffey Award. Each school district is invited to name one member as the winner of this award, which is designed to honor a unique board member who brings to their board work both the head and the heart of committed and passionate service.

Windom is serving his second term on the board member and is in his third year as board president.

The bus driver evaluation tool is the first of the classified evaluation tools. It was approved as a pilot for this year, so as the evaluation council develops tools for food service and secretaries they'll have an idea of what worked well with this tool.

Superintendent Betty Summers explained the evaluation was developed with the materials from Charlotte Danielson, an internationally-recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness.

Also, they looked how the Colorado Department of Education wanted things to be put together for the educator effectiveness tool and ensured that someone with expertise in bus driving was part of the conversations.

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The bus driver tool was built the same way the teacher tool was, except that there are four domains instead of five. On the evaluation each section is marked ineffective, partially effective, effective or highly effective.

Bus drivers receive those marks based on observations coming from the supervisor riding the bus or viewing videotape, for example, and conversations the supervisor has with the bus driver.

Summers said that new bus drivers have to be evaluated within 90 days of when they first start and then they're evaluated once a year.

During the open forum portion of the meeting, Campbell Elementary principal Dennis Klein and fifth grader teacher Kristy Chavez gave a presentation on STAR Enterprise progress monitoring, which the district has been using for about eight weeks now.

“We at Campbell are really taking the bull by the horns with our data-driven instruction and interventions,” Chavez said.

Students are assessed in the fall as a starting place for teachers.

STAR Enterprise reading and math assessments dynamically adjust to each student's unique responses, pinpointing the student achievement levels quickly and efficiently. The assessments address the state common core benchmarks for Response to Intervention (RtI) and indicate if a student is on track to reach proficiency or in need of intervention.

Students are tested at least quarterly to monitor growth. Targeted students are tested every four to six weeks and intensive students, who need a little more support, are tested every one to three weeks.

After a student takes the initial test, teachers receive a report that shows if a student is in urgent need of intervention, needs to be watched or is at or above grade level. Students are then put into groups based on their needs.

“The whole enterprise is parent-friendly as well as teacher-friendly,” Chavez said.

Teachers will share assessment documents with parents at parent/teacher conferences in the fall.

“Very helpful data for progress monitoring,” Klein said. “We're very encouraged by the results so far.”

Klein briefly talked about the district's gifted and talented program as well. RE-1 uses the procedures and policies recommended by CDE.

Students are identified formally starting at the beginning of fourth grade and can be identified every year after. Cognitive Abilities Test, NEWA and Transitional Colorado Assessment Program results, as well as state competitions and teacher recommendations are used to identify students.

Once identified, students can take part in things like advanced classes and concurrent enrollment. Students not currently making the identification requirements but who are considered talent pool students by the state can also take advanced classes.

Klein said the district just finished their four-year plan for 2012-2016 and were granted an exemplary rating.

In other business, the board approved changing the start time of their next meeting on Monday, Nov. 5, to 7:15 p.m. at Hagen Administration Center. Prior to the meeting the board will attend a Monsanto Fund celebration at Sterling High School for the America's Farmers Grow Rural Education grant the district received, which will be used to build greenhouses at SHS and Caliche High School.

Under the consent agenda the board approved Tom Meyers as head baseball coach for SHS and superintendent's goals for 2012-2013.

Also approved were trip requests for five CHS and 12 SHS students to attend the National FFA Convention, Oct. 23-27, in Indianapolis, as well as 10 SHS students to attend the FBLA Fall Leadership Conference, Nov. 9-10, in Denver.

Assistant Superintendent Ron Marostica gave an update on common course numbering.

“It's an ambitious undertaking by the state but one that I think is going to be potentially rewarding,” he said.

The purpose of the system is to help schools and education agencies maintain information about students' coursework in a standardized format that makes it easier to exchange records as students transfer from one school to another, or to post-secondary education.

It will also be used as part of determining teacher effectiveness as required by House Bill 191.

“This would be part of whatever is finally decided by the teacher effectiveness unit as the 50 percent of the teacher evaluation that will come from student performance. This will be one source of information for that,” Marostica said. “So it's key that we do this right.”

By Nov. 1 districts have to have someone identified as being responsible for common course numbering; RE-1 identified early on so that isn't an issue.

Next year, by Feb. 1, high school and middle school courses must be matched to one of the course descriptions that the state has provided and preschool and elementary courses must be completed by May 1, 2013.

Marostica said he doesn't think there will be any classes that won't fit one of the states course descriptions, but there may need to be some fine tuning with reading and writing, for example, because there isn't a specific required 12th grade English class.